Sen. Jeff Merkley, who spent his early years in Roseburg, said Friday that he is related to one of the victims of the Umpqua school shooting.

Merkley said that the great-granddaughter of one of his cousins was killed in the mass shootings that left 10 dead and seven injured.

"I never thought it could possibly be that my family, my extended family, my cousins, were directly affected," Merkley said as he joined other elected officials at a press briefing Friday. "But as I said, this is a small town and everybody is affected.

"One of the individuals who died is the great-granddaughter of my first cousin, so she is my cousin. And I just tell you, every heart is damaged and broken, and this community is coming together to embrace each other... No one could have envisioned that here in this wonderful, beautiful place of Roseburg, that this could happen."

Merkley did not identify his slain relative and a spokesman, Ray Zaccaro, said in a telephone interview that the senator "is not going to elaborate beyond his statement at the press conference."

The Democratic senator was born in Myrtle Creek and lived in Roseburg for a few years, where he said he went to first grade. He said relatives on both sides of his family continue to live in the area.

Gov. Kate Brown and Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., also spoke at the briefing. All expressed condolences and praised police and rescue personnel. They mostly had little to say about how to prevent future gun violence.

"This is a conversation we will have," said Brown, who this year signed a bill expanding background checks on gun transfers, "but today is not the day."

Wyden spoke at greater length on this point, saying that he hoped to find points of compromise that can win support in Congress.

"It is clear that it does have to be about more than words and good intentions if this carnage is finally going to end," said Wyden. "As a country, we cannot just shrug our shoulders and move on."

DeFazio, whose district includes Roseburg, said the time for discussing solutions should come after Thursday's shooting is fully investigated "and we know all the facts."